Shatter defends air travel data share with US
He hit out at paranoia regarding the human rights record of the US and said he wanted to maximise co-operation between Ireland, the EU and the US in this area. Mr Shatter was addressing the Oireachtas Justice Committee on an EU-US agreement on the transfer of passenger name records to the US Department of Homeland Security.
Passenger name records data is information about passengers’ travel plans collected by air carriers as part of their reservations systems. The agreement requires airlines to provide some of this information to US authorities. The agreement replaces the EU-US passenger name records agreement, in operation since 2007. Mr Shatter said it had been renegotiated to address concerns that had been raised about proportionality, data protection and data security aspects.
“Passengers will not be subject to any more extensive disclosure of information than happens already.
“This particular provision is a better provision than has been there since 2007. It provides greater protection regarding access [by people] to information than in past,” he said.
Under the agreement:
* US authorities can retain travel data for up to five years in an active database with access restrictions. After the first six months the personal details are masked, but can be unmasked.
* After five years the data is transferred to an inactive database with restrictions, which can be held for a further 10 years (for terrorism cases) and 5 years (for transnational crimes).
Mr Shatter said people will have a right to access their data and seek to have incorrect data corrected. He said they could also take legal action, in the US, to redress any violation of their rights.
He said there would also be ongoing reviews by the EU and US: “There is extensive provision in this agreement that the rights of people are protected and then copperfastened by review the EU can engage on an annualised basis.”
The minister said passenger name records had led to the identification and prosecution of David Headley for involvement in the bombings in Mumbai, India in November 2008, in which 164 people were killed.
In another case, British authorities targeted and prosecuted a Chinese gang of human traffickers bringing people into Britain and Ireland.
“Passenger name records data is a tool of proven value to law enforcement services in counter-terrorism and serious crime investigations,” said Mr Shatter. He attacked what he described as, anti-US paranoia from committee member Finian McGrath TD, who raised concerns about US human rights records, including alleged torture by the CIA.
